From an ancestral perspective (or otherwise, for that matter), it is a huge challenge to nourish your child the way that you want and to maintain any sort of control over what they are eating on a daily basis. It’s healthy for our kids to have a social life, yet when they are at a friend’s house, all bets are off when it comes to food. At school, so many of our kid’s classrooms are cupcake and cookie factories with birthday celebration after birthday celebration. It’s not uncommon for parents to have NO IDEA what their child is eating when they send them off to school.
So, what does a health conscious parent do to make a difference? How do we influence change without judgment? Well, it starts at home… with setting great examples, packing nourishing lunches, and supporting your child to learn how foods make them feel.
My guest today is Kathryn Kos, a nutritional therapist at Primal Bliss Nutrition who is raising primally inspired children. Kathryn gained quite a following on Facebook by posting daily photos of her son’s lunchbox. She has since released an ebook of healthy lunch ideas, called Joshua’s Primal Lunchbox.
Kathryn and I talk about our kids, and how our modern culture makes it really challenging to keep track of what our kids are consuming. And this can be a tenuous situation, when we’re with friends our kids are offered foods that we wouldn’t offer them at home. How do you manage this situation without being perceived as unreasonable or straining friendships?
And the school environment… how do you deal with the copious amounts of sugar that your kids are offered?
If you haven’t already read this article by Yoni Freedhoff called, “Why is everyone always giving my kids junk food?”, be sure to click here and ponder his words.
Kathryn provides some ideas for packing healthy lunches, and also recommends some healthier, convenience foods to have on hand.
It can be overwhelming to ensure that our kids have parent-approved food options in our modern social environments, but rest assured, there are a few things that you can do to decrease some variables:
- Be proactive in the classroom and in the schools – offer healthy solutions rather than fume over the status quo.
- Focus your efforts where it counts the most – at home – be a great role model for your kids, they do learn from us.
- Investigate PlanetBox lunch boxes as a way to pack appropriately sized, healthy foods from home… and be green, and save serious money.
- And check out Kathryn’s ebook, ‘Joshua’s Primal Lunchbox’ for nutritious lunch ideas for your kids. You can find it at PrimalBlissNutrition.com.